Container to be coupled with a bottle

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a container to be coupled either with a bottle or another container, for the sale of multicomponent articles. Particularly, the container being the object of the present application is provided with a hole, either a through or blind hole, in which the neck of said bottle or another similar container may be housed, so as to form a compact assembly having a smaller size. The invention solves the packaging problems that multicomponent articles, such as for example promotion articles may often involve.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a container to be coupled either with a bottle or another similar container, to be used particularly for packaging multicomponent articles.

BACKGROUND ART

The trading of multicomponent articles is spreading more and more. With the term “multicomponent articles” has been indicated those products which are sold in separate containers, but are part of a single packaging. In most cases these articles, which are sold on occasion of special offers or promotions, consist of different products being either jointly or sequentially involved in the same application or use, or in similar applications or uses, such as to make a sort of “kit”. Typical examples may be drawn either from the cosmetic field (shampoo/conditioner, eau-de-Cologne/aftershave lotion) or the foodstuffs field (sauces or spices of different types, various seasonings such as oil/vinegar or oil/spices).

Such a type of products is usually packaged by coupling the two or more containers (having often non-homogeneous sizes) side by side and keeping them together by means of bands or films made of transparent plastic material. Such a packaging form, besides being aesthetically unattractive, has the drawback of making the products difficult to be packaged inside the shipping boxes. This drawback is particularly felt when the coupled containers have substantially different sizes, because there are automatically created in the package some empty spaces which are firstly a waste of space and during transportation may further allow the various packagings to move relative to each other, thus resulting in the risk of impacts and breaks, in the case of glass containers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The problem of providing a packaging of multicomponent articles is felt, which solves the above-listed problems and has a compact shape even in the case of containers having different sizes, in order to obtain an optimum use of the space inside the package.

This problem is solved by means of the invention as defined in the annexed claims.

Further characteristics and the advantages of the container to be coupled being the object of the present invention will be better understood from the description of a preferred embodiment, which is given herein below by way of indicative and non-limiting example, with reference to the annexed figures

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the container of the invention being coupled with a bottle;

FIG. 2 shows a side view of the container of the invention;

FIG. 3 shows a side view of the container of the invention taken along direction A from FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 shows a top view of the container of the invention, taken along direction B from FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 shows a side view of the container to be coupled, in a second embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference to the figures, the container to be coupled according to the invention will be now described herein below.

The container to be coupled, indicated with numeral 1 as a whole, comprises a receptacle 2, of a substantially parallelepiped-shape, being provided with an aperture 3 that is bordered by an externally threaded, substantially tubular neck 4 protruding from the upper base of the container, opposite to the support base.

The container 1 may be manufactured either in glass, or plastic material (such as for example PET) or any other material usually employed for manufacturing containers.

The container of the invention is characterized in that it comprises a through hole 5 having either complementary diameter and shape or a slightly larger diameter than the neck 7 of bottle 6 in which it is intended to be inserted. It should be specified that with the term “bottle” in the present invention has been indicated any type of container being provided with a neck, independently from the size and shape thereof.

Therefore, the inner walls of hole 5 form a substantially tubular duct housing the neck of bottle 6.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the two opposite sides of container 1 where through hole 5 opens, have a substantially concave shape. The purpose of this shape, besides being aesthetical, is that container 1, after it has been inserted into the neck of bottle 6, is rested against the upper base of bottle 6 which, in the figure, has a substantially convex shape. In other cases, the bottle may have an upper portion either with an hemispherical or a substantially flat profile. In these cases, the shape of the sides of container 1, or of at least one of the sides, i.e. the one intended to be rested against the surface of bottle 6, will be complementary to the shape of the surface of bottle 6 being the base for the neck 7.

The length of the tubular duct being formed by through hole 5 is substantially equal to the length of the neck 7 of bottle 6, but it allows the threaded portion of neck 7 on which cap 8 is screwed to protrude outside. On the contrary, the height of container 1 is substantially equal to the width of bottle 6.

Thereby, the bottle 6 and container 1 form a compact assembly 9 enabling to optimise the space within the package, thus filling the empty spaces which might be originated from the different bulk of the body of bottle 6 relative to the neck 7 thereof. On the other hand, the assembly of the invention substantially forms a parallelepiped, so that the various container assemblies, being arranged side by side relative to each other in the package, have a well “packed” and firm configuration.

Moreover, the container 1 is firmly anchored to the bottle 6, by being inserted into the neck 7 thereof, thus making a rigid, or in any case wrapping packaging, such as the known plastic sheet even unnecessary.

The above-listed advantages result in a reduction of the packaging and shipment costs.

Furthermore, the container assembly 9 according to the invention has a pleasing appearance, thus making the product more attractive for the consumer.

Several embodiments of the container 1 may be provided, without departing from the scope of the present invention.

For instance, the hole 5 may also be blind. This configuration is particularly for use with those bottles 6 being provided with a shorter neck.

When hole 5 is blind, it may also be arranged on the support base of container 1, such as shown in FIG. 5. In this case, the container 1 is coupled with bottle 6 in an upright position rather than a horizontal position such as in the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1.

Although the container 1 will mostly have a smaller size than the bottle 6 to which it is coupled, such as in the annexed figures in which, by way of example, a bottle 6 for oil is shown being coupled with a container 1 for spices, nevertheless the bottle 6 and container 1 may have the same size, or the bottle may be smaller than container 1. 

1. A container to be coupled with a bottle, comprising inner walls defining a hole having either complementary diameter and shape or a slightly larger diameter than the neck of the bottle in which it is intended to be inserted, the inner walls of said hole forming a substantially tubular duct housing the neck of bottle.
 2. The container according to claim 1, said container comprising a receptacle, of a substantially parallelepiped-shape, being provided with an aperture bordered by an externally threaded, substantially tubular neck protruding from the an upper base of the container opposite to a support base.
 3. The container according to claim 1, wherein at least the side of said container intended to be rested against the surface of the bottle has a shape which is complementary to the shape of the surface of the bottle being the base for the neck.
 4. The container according to claim 3, wherein the two opposite sides of the container where said hole opens have a substantially concave profile.
 5. The container according to claim 1, wherein said hole is a through hole.
 6. The container according to claim 1, wherein said hole is blind.
 7. The container according to claim 1, wherein the length of the tubular duct being formed by the hole is substantially equal to the length of the neck of the bottle, but it allows the threaded portion of the neck on which the cap is screwed to protrude outside.
 8. The container according to claim 1, wherein the height of container is substantially equal to the width of the bottle.
 9. The container according to claim 6, wherein said blind hole is located on the suppport base of the container.
 10. The container according to claim 1, said container being manufactured either of glass or plastic material.
 11. The container according to claim 1, wherein said container has a different size from the bottle which it is coupled.
 12. An assembly of containers for multicomponent products, comprising a bottle and a container as defined in claim 1, wherein said container is coupled with said bottle by inserting the neck of said bottle into the hole of the container. 